darknj

this seems to be the new official pencil at Reuters 
 

Keep it and put a tag on like with "I survived hell" or something akin to that

Fuji X-T1 18-55
 

 
 
 
 
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To get back to the "gap" in the Fuji lenses releases. I would like to remind that Fuji XF series came into existence only 3 years ago, almost 4, granted, but the mount is still considered by many as in its infancy when compared to Canikon who have been making lenses for the Nikon F mount over 50 years and a bit above 30 years for Canon's EF mount.
 
So of course those two will have a lot more choices, m43 has 2 manufacturer behind the mount and Sony E mount... Well let's not talk about Sony lenses, it's a bit miserable over there... Let's just say that I feel sorry for them.
 
That being said, there are indeed gaps in the current Fuji line up, we are still missing a wide angle zoom at F2.8 to complete the "Pro" line triumvirate and the long range over 200mm is depressingly empty.
True, most of us that like long range shooting already have the gear from other manufacturers but yeah. Here is the hope toward that 100-400mm.
 
As for lenses themselves, the 18mm is only soft at the edges, which by itself wouldn't be that bad but because of that silly good 18-55 being sharper at 18mm F2.8 than the prime at the edges held some buyers off and are waiting for the next iteration of it.
So if that "kit" lens of 18-55 wasn't that damn good to begin with, we would all be super happy about the prime and it would already be sitting in my daily bag closely nested against my X-T1 along the 27mm.
 
As for the 23mm being big, well yeah it's almost as big as the 10-24mm F4 but let's put things into perspective for a moment shall we ?
 
XF 23 F1.4: 63mm long and 296g (without hood)
XF 14 F2.8: 58mm long and 234g (without hood)
XF 18-55 : 70mm - 98mm long and 308g (without hood)
XF 10-24 : 87mm long and 404g (without hood)
 
It doesn't really look that big nor that heavy to me.
 
Does it look big on a X-T1 ? Of course it does, that thing is almost the size of the zoom kit ! Does it annoy anyone who wants that focal length ? Not that much. I have seen colleagues doing portraits shots with that a Nikkor 105mm Macro on a D800, was it practical ? Not one bit ! But was it good ? Heck yeah it was, one of his best portrait I would say.
 
As for the rest of the line up, focal length wise, we are pretty good from 10 to 135-200ish, bit of quirky here and there but in overall, we have a good line up and a lot of them are downright very good if not excellent and some are purely superbe (looking at you 90mm F2).

Like the others posters, the 23mm f1.4 is among the best lens of the XF series, if you find it mediocre I am afraid not much else within the XF mount would please you.

While the bulk is real and can be cumbersome the quality that comes out of it does counter balance it.

As for the 27mm, it is a lens of compromise, we are exchanging a bit of the IQ for size. That being said I certainly do not find it that weak, it still a good lens and the size works in its favor.

Like the others posters, the 23mm f1.4 is among the best lens of the XF series, if you find it mediocre I am afraid not much else within the XF mount would please you.

While the bulk is real and can be cumbersome the quality that comes out of it does counter balance it.

As for the 27mm, it is a lens of compromise, we are exchanging a bit of the IQ for size. That being said I certainly do not find it that weak, it still a good lens and the size works in its favor.

That's exactly what we call it in English

The two cameras are doing different things, the X100 series is clearly for an easy to carry around, the X-Pro1 offer the flexibility of XF lenses while keeping it smallish.
 
Now, if we could get an XF pankake 23mm F2.8 lens, I am certain there would be many buyers from the forum already.

There are two broad purposes to a camera to capture memories or to capture an arresting or artistically satisfying image. Some people are in one camp or the other some in both. If you are only after memories a record of an event of people special to you a Smartphone will do the job admirably. I think its for this reason the Small compact market has been hit so hard. I think that that market will pretty much disappear. You will have enthusiast and pro cameras only, the main differential between the two probably no longer about resolution or IQ but AF speed and how many card slots
 
The more and more that I pursue photography the more I realize that the most important skill a photographer has is self curation.
 
The ability to look at our work objectively and brutally remove anything that is not up to standard, as we develop this curation is honed and honed, I regularly remove pictures from my flickr stream that I no longer consider up to scratch. I am sure I am not there yet either and that many there today will not be there in a year. This is the antithesis of the memories photographer who will keep everything regardless of quality because each photo is a memory. I do that as well. I use facebook for my memories and I have a far less stringent curation process (although I am still fairly fussy) because its about sharing memories and experiences with my friends and family who are not geographically local to me. Flickr is my outlet for the stuff I want to put my name to.
 
It is an iterative process, and comes about but becoming aware of your own abilities and those of others and your personal 'bar' moving higher and higher. This sort of development is not new to me its the same with learning a musical instrument.
 
However all of these are endeavors, labours of love, passions something which gives a person joy in the process as much as the result. Otherwize why bother. For many there is no joy in this and that is fine they just want to snap and forget and that is totally cool. Everyone is different. I can't stand golf, but for many it is there favorite pastime.
 
The article at the top of this thread could just as well  be titled memories vs hobby as iphone vs X-T1
 
G

I agree on clarifying the context somehow, perhaps splitting the galleries into smaller sections? Like "Italy", or "Street photography". But disagree on sharing how it was taken. People who know photography, can have a good enough guess. People who don't know, usually don't care. I only share technical data if it's relevant or a teaching situation. Never in a portfolio.

Tony is quite wrong on that video, or at least he is leading ppl into the wrong assumption.
 
What Tony is talking about the Depth of Field differences, which is 100% true and related to the camera sensor. Larger sensor mean larger area and thus a shallower depth of field.
 
But you still do not multiply the F-stop on smaller sensor camera to get a full frame equivalent of F-Stop, that part doesn't make any sense at all. The F-Stop is a measure of a certain amount of light hitting your sensor.
 
What Matt explained is all true but the differences is mostly because lens constructor are allowed up to 0.5 F-Stop value as error margin. Meaning a Nikkor 50mm F1.8, could have a variable F-Stop from F1.8 to F2.3. That's one of the reason why some legacy lenses from the film era has scratching on the barrel marking the actual F-Stops values.
 
So if you are a Protog, and really need to be that precise, you need to test out your gear to be 100% certain of what you are getting on your lenses. And that variation can happen from lenses within the same series manufactured in the same place at the same time.

but you were charged BTW ( VAT) and handling through customs?
 
Paypal has extended guarantee to 180 days
 
https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/paypal-safety-and-security

The only advice I can really give is to have fun. Don't think too much about it, just take pictures of anything and everything you want.
 
Try things out, experiments here and there, take it easy, it's a hobby, quite a fun one even.
 
If you have friends/colleagues/... with photography experience you can ask them to judge your pictures, take what they say with a grain of salt as if they are experienced, their ways of shooting might not be yours.
By taking more and more pictures, you will naturally find things that you like to do and others that you won't like and slowly your own style will show up in your pictures.
Photography is a very personal thing, it has to please you first. If that shot also happens to appeal to others, that's even better.
 
As for the technique, just stick to auto at first and slowly learn up things like the Aperture, ISO, speed, composition,... 
 
Gear wise, you are pretty much set for most things, there will be very little need for more except when you will start getting picky about your pictures, even so you can still make do with what you currently have.

I am building myself the 10-24 and 18-135 combo, those lenses are rather bulky and not very good when you hit low light situations, hence I got the 35 F1.4 and added the 27mm F2.8 when I want a small carry around version of my camera.
 
The 16-55 is stellar in performances but it's huge, head to Fuji vs Fuji for a comparison.
 
As I have never tried nor touched the 55-200 I really can not say anything about it. Aside from the test shots I have seen, it's an XF lens. Meaning, it's good at what it does and IQ is there, just don't go and compare it to sharpness monsters like the 55-140 F2.8 or the 90mm F2.
 
The setup I would use for landscape is clearly 10-24 and 18-135 for when you are outside in day with your family. The X100s can be kept for either indoors shooting or just simple walk around camera.
 
Also, if you like the ultra wide angle, Rokinon 12mm is very well loved in this forum and for good reasons, we have a thread dedicated to it about here.

While I do agree to your sentiment, I would like to point out Fuji has been making XF lenses only for a few years, September 2012 to be precise.
 
In about 3 years worth of time they released 16 lenses that all gets the job done. 
 
While Nikon has been making lenses for the same F mount for the past 50 years and around 30 years for the Canon EF mount, the XF series mount is quite young, barely out of its infancy. 
 
In comparison, the m34 mount released 23 lenses between September 2012 and last month, but there are 2 manufacturer behind that mount system.
 
The overlapping lenses are mostly because they can sell more of them than those super long zooms, not that many of us needs ranger further than 200mm FF equivalent. And those with the need for it, most likely have the gear from other manufacturers to get the job done.
 
Fuji is also testing the waters a bit here and there to see what its public wants. So far, it seems that the consumers wants more Instax camera. So yeah, go figure that one out when you try to convince the higher management that you need that much amount of fund to start R&D for a XF 100-400mm lens.

The only advice I can really give is to have fun. Don't think too much about it, just take pictures of anything and everything you want.
 
Try things out, experiments here and there, take it easy, it's a hobby, quite a fun one even.
 
If you have friends/colleagues/... with photography experience you can ask them to judge your pictures, take what they say with a grain of salt as if they are experienced, their ways of shooting might not be yours.
By taking more and more pictures, you will naturally find things that you like to do and others that you won't like and slowly your own style will show up in your pictures.
Photography is a very personal thing, it has to please you first. If that shot also happens to appeal to others, that's even better.
 
As for the technique, just stick to auto at first and slowly learn up things like the Aperture, ISO, speed, composition,... 
 
Gear wise, you are pretty much set for most things, there will be very little need for more except when you will start getting picky about your pictures, even so you can still make do with what you currently have.

To add a few more details, while I was never under such a downpour, I do travel to Asia on regular basis and because of the heat and moisture all around, I can vouch that the X-T1 with the 18-135 lens are perfectly able to tackle that weather condition without any hitch, just make sure to not change your lens outside of your hotel room, specially in very humid areas.
 
That aside, Nikon AW series and the Olympus Tough series are both very good compact rugged cameras for pretty much anything you would want to travel but the fixed lens can be impacting on usability.
But the Nikon AW1 kind of fixes that since it's one of the only rugged cameras that can swap lenses, granted there are only 2 at this moment, but Nikon has been quite diligent lately and registered half a dozen of patents for the Nikon 1 series along a wide angle zoom for the AW1.

To add a few more details, while I was never under such a downpour, I do travel to Asia on regular basis and because of the heat and moisture all around, I can vouch that the X-T1 with the 18-135 lens are perfectly able to tackle that weather condition without any hitch, just make sure to not change your lens outside of your hotel room, specially in very humid areas.
 
That aside, Nikon AW series and the Olympus Tough series are both very good compact rugged cameras for pretty much anything you would want to travel but the fixed lens can be impacting on usability.
But the Nikon AW1 kind of fixes that since it's one of the only rugged cameras that can swap lenses, granted there are only 2 at this moment, but Nikon has been quite diligent lately and registered half a dozen of patents for the Nikon 1 series along a wide angle zoom for the AW1.

Outdoors I always have a bag with a place for every lens i carry with me including the one on the camera. I don't use front caps. Only hoods and protectors.
1. Open the bag
2. Remove the lens and place into the bag
3. Switch rear cap from the lens you want to put on the camera to the lens you've just removed.
4. Put the new lens on the camera.
5. ???????
6. PROFIT111!!!

Different companies have different idea as on how to focus should work, heck, they can't even agree on the ISO value...
 
The camera is just a tool and with any tool, you need to learn to use it, different tools need different learning process. It might not the case of the casual shooter who just need to point at something and expect a great shot but those of us who got Fuji to actually slow down our picture taking and not just spray around the area because "one of them will be good enough".
 
My X-T1 never let me down on the AF (aside fast subjects), if it misfired, it was because I was the one who made the mistake, the same thing applies when I use any other cameras. The tool by itself is rather stupid, it just take a picture. You could do that with marginally great effect with your regular 2 years old iPhone.
 
The hardest part when using a Fuji is to get rid of your old reflex and expectation from Canikon, they simply don't work the same way, I love how the D3S never let down on the AF, it can even find focus point when my eyes can't seen any. But I still prefer my Fuji even with its "faults" and its merits.

Just an idea, if you are not overly seeking for the shallow depth of field from the 52 F1.2, why not consider the 60mm F2.4 ? 
 
It's a bit of a generic all rounder that can do some portrait and cost a third of the price of the 52 F1.2.

Plus, it should only have softness on the edges, the center is usually quite sharp.

I like and dislike DxO, they are good if you need raw numbers but then again their scale is a bit weird. On several occasions you have much older dslr that are equally good then recent top dogs while real world clearly prove the contrary.
 
Also they test only the Bayer sensors, hence Fuji not being tested at all. Not even their lenses.
 
This leaves me with a sour after taste when looking at DxO reports. In the end, they are jus that a raw amount of numbers.

QED ( quod erat demonstrandum  ) , Optical Image Stabilizer, LCD ( Liquid Crystal Display....it was asked before) ......all staff that one takes for granted but isn’t necessarily.

That would be wrong, anyway.